Dhaka seeks ICRC role in creating conducive environment

Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen has said ICRC should work more actively in Rakhine state with Myanmar authorities for creating a conducive environment so that the Rohingyas can go back to their homeland in a sustainable and dignified manner.

Momen made the call when he had a meeting with Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in New York recently.

Maurer expressed gratitude from ICRC to Bangladesh, particularly to prime minister Sheikh Hasina for her humanitarian gesture in providing shelter to the Rohingyas when they entered Bangladesh after being persecuted in the homeland by their own state machinery.

Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar district and Bhasan Char.

Bangladesh at the UN General Assembly reiterated that the crisis was created in Myanmar and its solution lies in Myanmar.

On 24 September, prime minister Sheikh Hasina in her speech at the UNGA said the international community must work constructively for a permanent solution to the crisis through safe, sustainable, and dignified return of the Rohingyas to their home in the Rakhine state.

"While we expect the ASEAN leadership to step up their ongoing efforts, the international community needs to support all the accountability processes," she said.